Tim's Vegetable Shopping Guide

Introduction to Vegetables

**Click Here for the Printable Grocery List**

Most vegetables are excellent and should make up the majority of your food purchases. Buy vegetables first when shopping at a grocery store. If possible, find a local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm to join or visit a farmer’s market. Produce will have greater nutrient density because it is ripe when harvested and usually organic farming methods are used. Preferably, vegetables should fresh, sometimes frozen, and rarely canned.

**Click Here for the General Shopping Guide**

I HIGHLY recommend buying ALL organic produce, but if money is an issue the following key applies:

I draw all considerations together and rank vegetables using the following scale:

This category is divided into Raw and Cooked based on the digestibility of the vegetables. Vegetables with a high cellulose content are hard on the stomach and keep us from absorbing nutrients, therefore they should be cooked.

Raw

Whole, raw vegetables are the most important part of your diet. Back when humans were hunter-gatherers raw foods were a main source of calories, vitamins, and nutrients. We evolved depending on these raw vegetables and our genetics still reflect the critical importance they play in our health.

Some health benefits of raw vegatables are alkalizing the body's Ph levels, contributing essential vitamins and minerals, and replenishing the body with enzymes.

Not all vegetables are digestible in raw form and may cause digestive trouble or health problems if we attempt to eat them without cooking.

Cooked

Cooking breaks up and transforms the indigestible parts of a vegetable into food that is nourishing. Note that sweet vegetables (corn) and starchy vegetables (potatoes) should be eaten in small portions or avoided, which will help avoid weight gain and potential medical issues. Your tongue doesn’t have receptors for hot and spicy foods (chili peppers), and is instead a pain reaction that your mind has fooled your tongue into liking. Runny noses, burning eyes, and flushing are signs of a serious allergy because your body thinks it’s under attack.

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